Westville stays unbeaten with win over Kearsney
The Westville Boys’ High 1st XV delighted their alumni and other supporters who had come together on Old Boys’ Day to celebrate the school’s 70th anniversary with a King Price Derby Series 33-15 win over their local rivals, Kearsney College.
With the victory on Saturday, Westville remains unbeaten in 2025.
The school has made a number of very good sporting decisions in recent years, including appointing Pam Hayward the Director of Sport. Under her guidance, Westville has enjoyed unprecedented success across all sports.
Then, a decision to appoint Dusty Noble as the Director of Rugby has resulted in outstanding returns. He has delivered and then some.
And the appointment of Zander Erasmus, as coach of the 1st XV, has been a masterstroke. He had previously coached many of the players now under his charge with great success at u16 level.
A measure of Westville’s outstanding rugby season can also be found in the fact that for their past two derbies, against Glenwood and Kearsney, the Griffin have won every match. That’s unprecedented in the school’s history.
Success breeds success and the Old Boys lapped it up on Saturday by turning out in their numbers.
“I’ve never seen so many Old Boys at the school,” Erasmus enthused. “You look at the stream and you see that tunnel, where the players walk from the change room. It was insane how many Old Boys pitched up and how, afterwards, everyone stayed on the field and took photos with the players.
“It was really special. I have never felt the school buzzing like that, and the build-up that we had during the week, it was amazing. Goosebumps!”
The home team got off to a flyer, with fullback Zekhethelo Siyaya, who had missed the previous match against Glenwood, orchestrating a try for outside centre Jadrian Afrikaner. However, after that, they found the going tougher.
Kearsney replied with a penalty and the home side was, then, stymied. “We constantly found ourselves giving the ball away,” Erasmus lamented.
“I think the boys got trapped in the excitement of the crowd and of Old Boys’ Day, after scoring early. They lost a bit of sight of the plan and what we wanted to do. In the second half, we calmed ourselves and said play in the right areas. Turn them around, put them under pressure, be patient, and the tries will come.”
The Westville coach recognised Kearsney’s contribution to the occasion and to the home team’s stuttering first half showing.
“Kearsney was very good in terms of matching our energy. They came hard at us. They’ve got a couple of good ball carriers. Their number 12 (Keanu Williamson) played very well, setting it up in the midfield.”
Afrikaner went over for a second try in the 16th minute, the product of a good kick-chase and fantastic hands, with the forwards linking up well with the backs before the speedy centre rounded Kearsney down the left-hand touchline.
The visitors hit back in the 24th minute through their inside centre, Williamson, who sliced through the Westville defence to go over unopposed, behind the poles. Fullback Lwazi Mbebe added the conversion, and the home team led only 12-10.
When Westville won a penalty just inside the Kearsney half, with two minutes to go in the opening stanza, captain Liam Simpkins made a good decision to take a quick tap, which meant the One-Stripe didn’t have time to organise their defensive line. Lock Lwandile Mlaba made most of the running before feeding fullback Siyaya, who dived over in the right-hand corner for a five-pointer.
It was 19-10 at the break.
Commenting afterwards, Westville coach Zander Erasmus said: “I thought, in general, our performance was divided into two halves. We managed to turn it around in the second half, in terms of territory and then converting from there.”
Early in the second half, Jadrian Afrikaner made it a hattrick of tries after running onto a flat pass at pace and crashing over against the right upright. Not surprisingly, he was later named the King Price Man of the Match.
The conversion was no problem for the steady boot of Jade-Will Koopman, which extended Westville’s lead to 26-10.
Mbebe and Williamson were prominent when Kearsney launched a counterattack in the 44th minute, and when the ball went wide to the right, to wing Lwandle Mkhize, he sprinted clear and was over with a spectacular dive into the corner. The visitors thought they had scored, but the speedster was ruled out of bounds.
Instead, Westville scored next after a long looping pass out to Avumile Lisa from flyhalf Koopman was gratefully accepted by the jet-shoed wing, who flew down the touchline to make the dive for five in the left-hand corner. Koopman bisected the posts to extend the hosts’ advantage to 33-10.
Kearsney had brought a lot to the contest, and they enjoyed the final say when Lwandle Mkhize crossed for a try in the left-hand corner with two minutes remaining.
Coach Erasmus credited Kearsney for causing his side trouble at the lineouts, which have been the source of much of the Griffin’s go-forward ball this season. The Westville pack, though, had the edge in the set scrums.
Erasmus also praised the contribution of Sange Nkonki, who turned out at eighthman in place of Craven Week number eight, Lwandile Simelane. “He did a great job over the ball. He’s a specialist fetcher. We got a couple of rewards there. The number seven, Lwandile Makhanya, played very well in the loose,” he added.
Sometimes, the performances of Westville’s captain Liam Simpkins aren’t recognised as they should be, simply because he is so efficient and tidy. He’s taken for granted, but not by Erasmus.
“Liam Simpkins played exceptionally well. His tempo was good. He had a couple of good cover defence tackles.
“I want to highlight his leadership. The way he keeps the players calm. The way he can raise the tempo or slow it down when we need to manage time. The way he speaks to his players,” the coach said, ticking off the qualities that his skipper brings to a winning team.
One of the highlights of the match, Erasmus said, was the match-up between the two fullbacks.
“Siyaya was good. He had that first try assist. He scored a nice try in the corner, as well. He made a try-saving tackle in the corner, too. The match-up was a good one, because Lwazi Mbebe is the Academy Week number 15. He’s got a lot of skill. He’s also a very elusive player.”
Erasmus also pointed out something else about Westville SA School’s fullback, which not many would have realised: “I think people see the Instagram highlights of him playing and scoring tries, but I am yet to see him miss a tackle this year.
“In terms of tactical kicking, I think, in South Africa, he’s right up there with the best. He can kick off of both feet.”
Erasmus’s words of praise weren’t restricted to his charges. It took two to tango, he explained: “Kearsney was good in coming out and being up for the challenge. If you give them a sniff, they will always stay in the fight. They’ve got good players and a good coaching staff.
I thought they were quite clever with the way in which they changed up their quick-tap play. They attacked into the vacuum of the lineout, which no one has really done, but they have found a way to exploit that.
“They kicked a lot, which a lot of teams don’t do. They cross-kicked and put us under a bit of pressure there. They’ve got a never-say-die attitude, and they keep on going. When you give them opportunities, they’ll punish you.
We knew we were up for a tough challenge. Credit has to go to the Kearsney coaches and players for showing up and making it a massive spectacle on Old Boys’ Day.”
SCORES
Westville Boys’ High 33 (17) – Tries: Jadrian Afrikaner (3), Zekhethelo Siyaya, Avumile Lisa. Conversions: Jade-Will Koopman (4). Kearsney College 15 (10) – Tries: Keanu Williamson, Lwandile Mkhize. Conversion: Lwazi Mbebe. Penalty: Lwazi Mbebe (2)
u19 – Westville I 33 Kearsney I 17; Westville II 29 Kearsney II 10; Westville III 15 Kearsney III 14; Westville IV 20 Kearsney IV 12; Westville V 38 Kearsney V 10; Westville VI 19 Kearsney VI 0.
u16 – Westville A 28 Kearsney A 8; Westville B 28 Kearsney 0; Westville C 28 Kearsney C 0; Westville D 34 Kearsney D 14.
u15 – Westville A 29 Kearsney A 17; Westville B 52 Kearsney B 12; Westville C 51 Kearsney C 5
u14 – Westville A 35 Kearsney A 31; Westville B 26 Kearsney 10; Westville C 52 Kearsney C 3
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